The Seven Pillars of a Healthy Menopause

3. Exercise and Activity

May I introduce you to NEAT? NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. This means all the things we do in our everyday lives that we don’t think of as exercise, but which burn energy. Walking, housework, gardening, DIY, the many miles we do walking round our own classrooms.

Research shows that we do less NEAT when we reach perimenopause. Not surprising really as we’re often tired, sweaty and fed up. This is thought to be the main reason we put on weight at this time. It is not thought to be the case that our metabolism changes — research shows that our metabolic rate doesn’t slow until we’re in our sixties. However our hormonal changes do mean that we become more likely to put weight on around our middle.

That’s why this article is about exercise and activity, rather than just exercise. It’s important to try not to give up on our NEAT. The more we can do to stay active, the happier and healthier we’ll be.

But exercise is also important, for several reasons — of which weight is only one. Let’s talk muscles and bones. Oestrogen stimulates the cells of our muscles and bones to make more muscle and bone tissue. So we can lose muscle and bone mass when we reach menopause.